The present invention relates to diapers and specifically to an integral pocket in a disposable diaper which provides a means for rolling and packaging the diaper after use for easy and convenient compact disposal.
Disposable diapers have been popular as replacements for the traditional cloth diapers for many years. Although these products are expendable and are said to be disposable they are clumsy, inconvenient and untidy to throw away because a rolled up, used diaper tends to unroll and become awkwardly bulky and offensive.
Packaging a rolled cloth item in a pocket formed by turning a portion of the item inside out upon itself has been done with various items of clothing, such as a rolled pair of socks, but the use of that concept has not been made possible with a disposal diaper because the necessary structural elements to make it work are not present. The closest approach to a solution is found in
U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,432 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,753. Some similarity of purpose is also seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,545 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,175.
As the description of the present invention progresses, it will be seen that the construction of this invention has several significant and practically useful features which improve on the disposal bag of U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,753 and similar structures. First, the '753 bag requires a backsheet construction of two plies of material, whereas the instant structure requires only one sheet of material placed in juxtaposition to the diaper panel itself. Second, and most importantly, the '753 structure cannot be rolled up, as is customary with the disposal of such diapers, but must, on the other hand, be pried loose from the plies of material forming the bag and then folded once and pulled through the bag from the bottom, all of which is awkward, time-consuming and, most of all, ineffective to cleanly and efficiently dispose of the diaper in a tidy fashion.
With respect to the diaper disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,545, it is difficult to ascertain exactly how the inventor intends to dispose of the diaper. The pouch of that diaper is said to be of such dimension with respect to the absorbent that upon reversal it can contain the entire soiled diaper. The instant diaper, however, is designed to be rolled up and then contained by a integral pocket, a process which is easily performed when the pocket is outside of the impervious sheeting which shields the pocket from the soiled or wet absorbent material. The primary disadvantage of the '545 structure is that the manipulation of the diaper during the reversal process brings the wet absorbent material into direct contact with the hands of the person handling the diaper. With the improved construction of the present invention, the diaper may be rolled and disposed of without any contact with the absorbent material. The so-called process of reversal is shown in FIG. 6 of the '545 patent and manifests the same disadvantages as the device of the '753 patent.
The provision of the pocket of the present invention to disposable diapers, however, is not the mere new use of an old concept or devise. It is apparent that the disposable diaper industry has progressed for many years with new and improved absorbent materials, elastic bands integrated into the plastic backing material and adhesive fastening bands which make application and removal of a diaper quick and easy. However, in spite of compelling need, disposable diapers become disposal problems after they have been used.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide an integral means for enabling the rolling up and packaging of a used diaper so as to reduce the bulk of the item, seal in odors and prevent the diaper from inelegantly unrolling.
A second object of the invention is to provide an integral pocket for disposal of diapers that significantly improves on the overall effectiveness of prior art devices of the same general type.
A third objective of the invention is to provide a diaper throw-away package that does not require the use of special sealing and fastening means for sealing and integration.